


A Work of Destiny

by RinHaruismyOTP



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future Fish, M/M, fish-people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-15
Updated: 2015-09-15
Packaged: 2018-04-20 20:40:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4801538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RinHaruismyOTP/pseuds/RinHaruismyOTP
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He- Rin was gone.</p><p>It was the last thing that entered his mind before the world went blank.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Work of Destiny

**Author's Note:**

> So here is my first attempt at a Free! AU
> 
> Hope you like it!

_"Rin!"_

_Haruka watched the waves leap around erratically, and through horror-filled eyes saw the flying length of a harpoon whistling through the air. There was a sickening squelching noise as it struck home and a too familiar pained yell. Haruka frantically tried to push himself through the water, but the waves between the two of them were too strong for even Haru's tail to force itself through._

_"Rin! RIN!"_

_The ship approached the rapidly reddening sea around the boy whose entire being had always seemed to be made for the colour until now. Not now when it was his life source he was wearing, his life source which was running into the sea and gradually fading away. As the ship got closer, all Haruka could feel was fear and anger. Unable to stop his fear, he turned to his anger instead, and in a fit of rage he turned to the ship and w _ith one flap of his shining blue tail_ capsized it as if it were merely a toy. _

_He could hear screams from the ship as a dozen or so human men fell into the sea and tried to resist the ocean's clutches; Haruka almost laughed, but there were more important things. He span around, looking for Rin, but he was nowhere to be seen. Haruka shouted out in frustration and panic, battling through the water in an attempt to find the most important person in the world to him. He dived under the surface, scanning his eyes around the depths, and he cried out and felt his heart clench at the sight of only the human men's dead or dying bodies, but no fish-men. He cursed and searched and screamed and cried and-_

_Stopped._

_He- Rin was gone._

_It was the last thing that entered his mind before the world went blank._

 

Haruka gasped awake, remembering and immediately glancing around for the sight of Rin. He wondered how far he had drifted and how deep he fallen into the ocean's depths whilst unconscious, and searched for something familiar. But the ocean is vast, and even fish-people had not explored all of it, and Haruka found himself in an area devoid of life and only just light enough for a fish-person's eyesight. 

He flicked his tail a single time and winced at the ache of strenuous use that accompanied it, but tried to ignore it, knowing that if he drifted any farther without direction he'd likely never get back home, and he'd never find Rin. _I've got to find Rin._ The sentence echoed through his head like a mantra, and each time it repeated he found more strength in his kicks and slowly the water got lighter and lighter as he approached the surface.  Breaking the surface, Haruka glanced around, trying to judge his location, and almost lost hope before he noticed a rock a number of hundred metres away that with the fish-people's amazing sight he could see on the side the initials  _N.H.,_ _M.R._ and  _T.M._ It was a rock that he, Rin and their friend Makoto had played on and around when they had been children, and the sight of it was enough to make Haruka sigh in relief. At least now he knew where he was - he had drifted a long way, it seemed, but as luck would have it his drifting had taken him closer to their clan's camp. 

He quickly made his way to the camp, getting frustrated at the increasing pain in his tail, and upon arriving at the camp was immediately greeted by a worried Makoto.

"Haru! You've been out for so long, what happened?" he glanced around and a confused look covered his face. "Where's Rin?"

Haruka's heart panged. It had been a foolish hope that Rin would have made it back before him, that he would be safe and happy, greeting Haruka with a beam and a  _What took you so long slow-coach?,_ but it had been hope nonetheless. And it had just been dashed. "So he's not back?" Haruka asked, already knowing the obvious answer to the question. Makoto's face grew alarmed.

"Haru? What happened? What's wrong?" he begged of him, and Haruka's hands flew to his head as he tried to straighten out his anxious thoughts.

"We were racing out in the deep and the fish-hunters turned up almost at the exact same time the storm started," he said, trying not to think about his words even as he said them. "I called out to Rin but we'd been taking a break so we weren't close at all. I couldn't see him through the waves and-" he shook "-they- they shot a harpoon at him. I heard him yell but I couldn't- I couldn't reach him through the waves. And he just- he just disappeared. I fell unconscious and when I woke up I was nearly home. Makoto we need to find him. We need to find him  _now_." His eyes pleaded with his friend, and had the situation been any different to what it was, Makoto would have been shocked by how expressive his friend's face was. 

"Oh no," Makoto whispered, face pale. "We'll find him, Haru. Did you see how much blood he had lost?"

Haruka shook his head. "It wasn't clear, but- it was a lot. It stained the water."

Makoto closed his eyes briefly. "Lead the way then, Haru," he instructed his friend, and Haruka just nodded before flicking his tail and shooting through the water with renewed vigour. 

 

"This was the place," Haruka told Makoto almost an hour later. Makoto glanced round at the human bodies scattering the sea-floor and grimaced. He didn't need to speak for Haruka to know he didn't approve, but he also knew a part of Makoto fully agreed with his actions, no matter how small that part on him was. Fish-hunters were foul creatures, the pleasure they gained from a kill was vicious and sickening. Countless numbers of their clan and the surrounding clans had been slayed by the fish-hunters' thirst for blood, and it was impossible to find a fish-person who hadn't lost someone to them at some stage. For Haruka and Makoto it had been Makoto's mother, who might as well have been Haruka's own mother as the Tachibana's had raised him as one of their own since his parents were always away negotiating with other clans. For Rin it had been his father. "Do you think we should split up and search?" Haruka asked.

"I can smell him," Makoto said suddenly, eyes alert. Haruka's own eyes widened. 

"You can?" Haruka asked hopefully, thanking whatever was out there for Makoto's sharp nose. Makoto nodded, his green tail writhing underneath him in obvious discomfort. "What's wrong?"

Makoto grimaced. "It's just the smell of the blood."

"Is there too much? Do you think he's lost too much?" 

There was a brief silence. "I don't know. But we should probably hurry."

 

The two had been swimming rapidly for what seemed like hours to Haruka, Makoto leading by his nose, before Haruka realised they were close to shore. He surfaced briefly, made an estimate of around two kilometres to the closest beach, and immediately felt sick. If Rin's scent carried on out here, was it because he'd lost consciousness due to lack of bllod and was swept up onto the shore? Had he bled out on the sand, leaving behind just an empty vessel...?

 _No._ Haruka could not allow himself to think like that. He had to believe that there was hope.

But when they reached the shore, there was the red figure, lying flat on the sand.

Haruka's stomach lurched, anxiety piling in his chest, and he raced to where Rin's crimson tail was twitching erratically, the only sign of life in his body. His skin was pale and clammy, and Haruka felt that his pulse was weak. 

Makoto gasped. "Haru..." he breathed. "How is that possible?" He pointed at Rin's torso, and it was only then that Haruka noticed the bandages covering Rin's side, perfectly white as if recently changed. Haruka felt his breath catch.

"I don't..." He didn't get time to finish before a groan rose out of the body in front of them, and Haruka's hand was instantly on Rin's cheek as if trying to coax him fully awake. Scarlet eyes blinked open and Haruka almost cried out in relief.

"Haru?" The name was spoken so softly Haruka thought his heart might break then and there.

"Rin," he breathed. "You're alive. You're okay. God, I love you so much." Haruka pressed his lips softly against Rin's for a brief second before pulling away, laughing as Rin protested slightly and tried to recapture his lips. "Rin, what happened? You suddenly just- you just disappeared."

Rin furrowed his brow, as if trying to remember. Then his eyes widened and he tried to sit up, wincing in pain and being pushed back down by Haruka a second later. "Where is he? What happened?"

Haruka frowned. "'He'?" he questioned, and Rin nodded.

"There was a boy - on the ship, there was a boy. About ten years old, and when you capsized the ship..." Rin trailed off and Haruka felt shock run through his body.

"Fuck," he whispered, and Rin grimaced.

"I picked him up and tried to swim him to land, and evidently I arrived but... I don't remember after that. I think it must have been the blood loss that caused me to collapse," he explained.

"I'm not surprised," said Haruka. "There was so much blood, I thought you might be..." His words caught in his throat and he had to look away from Rin to stop his eyes from watering.

Rin brushed his fingers over Haruka's cheek, effectively turning him back to face him. "Haru..." He seemed pained. "I'm sorry I made you worry." 

"I love you," Haruka whispered, burying his face in Rin's shoulder, and Rin rubbed his hand up and down Haruka's back.

"I love you too."

 

Makoto was swimming up and down the beach. He was worried about Rin, yes, but he thought it would be better to let the two have their alone time for the time being, and besides, he thought it was probably a good idea to try to find this boy Rin had been talking about. He was yet to see anyone, though, and was about to return to the couple to suggest maybe Rin had been experiencing some kind of delirium due to his injury in which he had hallucinated the buy he claimed to bring to shore when the plop! of a pebble hitting the water came from behind him. He turned to see a young blond boy with pink eyes sat on a rock staring at him. He looked around ten, as Rin had described the boy he'd saved to be.

"Hi," said Makoto, not really knowing what else to say.

"Hi," said the boy, before he beamed widely. "Tell your friend thanks," he said, and Makoto blinked.

"Rin? Are you the one he saved?" he asked, but the boy shook his head.

"No, that was my best friend Rei. He can't swim so without your friend he definitely wouldn't have survived." His eyes glazed over a little before he seemed to bounce back into high spirits. "Me and my dad-"

"My dad and I," Makoto corrected automatically before cursing himself.

The boy rolled his eyes. "Whatever. You're just like Rei.  _My dad and I_ , we found the two of them on the beach and took Rei to the hospital and bandaged your friend. When Rei woke up he told us how your friend saved him." The boy paused. "So tell him thank you from all of us." 

Makoto nodded. "I will. And thank you in return from looking after Rin."

The blond boy sniggered. "Rin? Is that his name? He's like Rei and me, we all have girly names."

Makoto smiled. "Why, what's your name?" he asked.

"Nagisa," said the boy. "What's yours?"

"Makoto. And that over there with Rin is Haruka." Nagisa looked delighted.

"We all have girly names! It's like it's destiny or something," he announced, and Makoto laughed.

"Yes, it's destiny," he agreed, and thinking of the connection between Rin and Haru which he'd almost watched be broken that day, he could think of other things that too were a work of destiny.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this!! Feedback is always appreciated!


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